NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Experiments in mice show that
promptly treating a stomach infection that can trigger cancer
seems to reduce the likelihood of that happening.

Stomach infection with a bug called Helicobacter pylori is
common in humans. It's known to cause stomach ulcers, and in
some people it can eventually lead to gastric cancer.

Dr. Chung-Wei Lee of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge and colleagues found that mice with H.
pylori infection left untreated developed pre-cancerous changes
in the stomach lining after 28 weeks from the initial
infection.

The researchers then looked at the effect of treating H.
Pylori infections, using the same medications used to eradicate
the infection in humans -- a combination of gastric acid
suppressors and antibiotics.

ADVERTISEMENT

After infection, mice were treated 8, 12 or 22 weeks later.
H. pylori eradication at 8 weeks post-infection completely
prevented the development of precancerous changes, Lee and
colleagues report in the journal Cancer Research. The effects
of later treatment were less striking.

The investigators acknowledge that most clinical trials in
patients have not noted an overall reduction in pre-cancerous
lesions or actual gastric cancer in patients receiving H.
pylori eradication therapy.

However, they researchers point out that precancerous
lesions resolve over time if the patient remains free of H.
pylori. "This suggests that significant improvement of gastric
lesions and reduction of gastric cancer prevalence may not be
observed during the first few years after treatment."

They conclude that larger clinical trials with human
patients and a long follow-up period are warranted.